Our Mission
To shine Christ's love to preschoolers and their families by creating a positive, Christ-centered environment that nurtures the whole child.
We accomplish this mission with active learning through Bible stories, play, music, educational games, stories, art projects, field trips, and interactions with other children. An environment with age appropriate activities helps to nurture the spiritual, physical, intellectual, social and emotional development of 3, 4, and 5 year olds.
We have been in operation since 1983 at Cumberland Valley Brethren in Christ Church (now The Meeting House – Dillsburg Campus) in Dillsburg, PA. We also are joining Daybreak Church in Mechanicsburg, PA in September 2024!
About Our Preschool
Mountainside consists of well-trained, qualified staff who care deeply about your child and will welcome them in a positive, Christ-centered and nurturing environment.
Our school is unique in that we use a "rotation model." This means that each of our classes are staffed with a teacher and an aide who lead the children around our school, rotating rooms every twenty minutes. This allows us to collaborate and coordinate our teaching and resources for better effectiveness. This also allows the children a chance to practice cleaning up, lining up and transitioning several times a day; and the movement helps keep their focus and attention.
Children will rotate through Bible, art, circle, snack, playground, and alphabet time during our school day.
Meet Our Staff
Pam French | Executive Director
Pam is the Mechanicsburg campus director and the current teacher for our Monday-Friday PreK class. Pam received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education as well as a minor in music and Bible. She previously taught fourth grade, piano lessons and directed preschool while on staff at her church.
Keri Walton | Dillsburg Campus Director
Keri is the director and teaches a Monday-Wednesday-Friday PreK class. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education - Mathematics from Bloomsburg University. She taught for four years in the Northern York Country School District before staying home with her three children.
Dillsburg Campus
Jenn Tanney | Curriculum Coordinator and Teacher
Jenn teaches one of the Monday-Wednesday-Friday Pre-Kindergarten classes as well as a Tuesday-Thursday Pre-Kindergarten class. She received her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Elementary and Special Education as well as a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Bloomsburg University. She previously taught in other preschools and childcare centers.
Diane Sites | Teacher
Diane will be teaching a Monday-Wednesday preschool class this year. Diane has a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education. This will be Diane's eighth year on staff at Mountainside. She worked in childcare and education for five years prior to coming to Mountainside.
Michelle Stauffer | Teacher
Michelle began teaching at Mountainside Preschool in 2006. She teaches one of our Monday-Wednesday-Friday Pre-Kindergarten classes. Michelle has an Associate’s degree in Education as well as an Associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education.
Ruth Anne Engle | Teacher
Ruth Anne will be a Tuesday-Thursday preschool teacher this year. Ruth Anne has Bachelor's degrees in education and Kinesiology. She previously taught fourth grade and is entering her 13th year at Mountainside.
Cindi Syvertson | Teacher
Cindi went to Messiah College for a degree in Psychology with a focus on Child Development. She is a foster/adoptive parent and has over a hundred hours of attachment, child development and trauma training. This year she will be teaching a Tuesday-Thursday-Friday Pre-Kindergarten class.
Jessica Nixon | Teacher
Jessica has a Masters in Social Work that she received from the University of Pittsburg and is teaching a Tuesday-Thursday preschool class. She worked for 6 years until she had her son and has been a part of Mountainside for 4 years.
Susan Hatch | Teacher
Susan has been a part of Mountainside Preschool in many capacities for 16 years. This year she is teaching a Monday-Wednesday preschool class and a Tuesday-Thursday preschool class. Susan has a degree in Early Childhood Education that she received from Messiah University.
Beth Lockhart | Teacher
Beth teaches one of the Tuesday-Thursday PreK classes this year. She has a degree in early childhood education, elementary education, and reading. She is a retired teacher who taught mostly kindergarten for 33 years.
Nina Hoover | Aide
Ruth Knapp | Aide
Kristen Brodsky | Aide
Bethany Streck | Aide
Rachel Byers | Aide
Alicia Aiello | Aide
Beth Myers | Aide
Nikole Grzybowski | Aide
Brooke deFilippo | Aide
Jasmine Peightal | Aide
Cheryl Hopkins | Floater and Bible Teacher
Mechanicsburg Campus
Brooke Fickes | Teacher
Brooke will be teaching a Monday-Wednesday-Friday preschool class and a Tuesday-Thursday preschool class this year. Brooke has an associate's degree in Early Childhood Education and has been a preschool teacher for several years.
Erin Griffiths | Teacher
Erin recently joined the Mountainside Preschool staff and will be teaching our Monday-Wednesday-Friday Pre-Kindergarten class. She graduated from Penn State University with an Associates in Human Development and Family Studies and a Bachelors degree in Health Administration. She has worked in early childhood for almost 15 years.
Holly Anderson | Aide
Marisa Blas | Aide
Angela Weiser | Aide
Esther Wong | Aide
